Report/Journal Article

PUBDB-2017-06812

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Cosmic rays at ultra high energies (neutrinos!)

Ahlers, M. ; Ringwald, A.DESY* ; Tu, H.

2006
Elsevier Science Amsterdam [u.a.]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2005.09.004

Report No.: DESY-05-100; astro-ph/0506698

Abstract: Resonant photopion production with the cosmic microwave background predicts a suppression of extragalactic protons above the famous Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff at about E_{GZK} ~ 5 x 10^10 GeV. Current cosmic ray data measured by the AGASA and HiRes Collaborations do not unambiguously confirm the GZK cutoff and leave a window for speculations about the origin and chemical composition of the highest energy cosmic rays. In this work we analyze the possibility of strongly interacting neutrino primaries and derive model-independent quantitative requirements on the neutrino-nucleon inelastic cross section for a viable explanation of the cosmic ray data. Search results on weakly interacting cosmic particles from the AGASA and RICE experiments are taken into account simultaneously. Using a flexible parameterization of the inelastic neutrino-nucleon cross section we find that a combined fit of the data does not favor the Standard Model neutrino-nucleon inelastic cross section, but requires, at 90 % confidence level, a steep increase within one energy decade around E_{GZK} by four orders of magnitude. We illustrate such an enhancement within some extensions of the Standard Model. The impact of new cosmic ray data or cosmic neutrino search results on this scenario, notably from the Pierre Auger Observatory soon, can be immediately evaluated within our approach.

Keyword(s): neutrino: cosmic radiation ; neutrino: strong interaction ; cosmic radiation: primary ; p: cosmic radiation ; neutrino nucleon: inelastic scattering ; cross section: parametrization ; cosmic radiation: flux ; photon p: interaction ; pi+: photoproduction ; pi+: leptonic decay ; neutrino: production ; numerical calculations: Monte Carlo ; interpretation of experiments

Note: Forschung Hochenergiephysik; Theorie

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. DESY Retrocat (DESY(-2012))

Research Program(s):

1. 899 - ohne Topic (POF3-899) (POF3-899)

Experiment(s):

1. No specific instrument

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Database coverage:
Current Contents - Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences ; Ebsco Academic Search ; IF < 5 ; JCR ; Nationallizenz ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Thomson Reuters Master Journal List ; Web of Science Core Collection

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